


Love by the Bolt: Barry Allen/Reader

by Magpies_and_candywrappers



Category: Justice League (2017)
Genre: Barry kinda thinks it cute, Complete, F/M, Hurt Barry, Reader is a human taser, You say some swears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-02-10 05:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12904737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magpies_and_candywrappers/pseuds/Magpies_and_candywrappers
Summary: You had been planning your escape for months, but just as you leave your cell, a scream catches your attention. You can't just ignore it, what if that was you who needed help?[complete]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story didn't take the turn I thought it was going too but nonetheless, I had so much fun writing it and knowing that it'll make at least one person smile is good enough for me. I do apologize if maybe Barry was slightly out of character or maybe there wasn't enough romance development. Regardless, please enjoy and thank you for reading!

You slowly walked around your cell, thoroughly pissed. You’d been minding your own business until some weird organization kidnapped you. Alright so you shoot electricity from your fingertips and or survive getting struck by lightning because of those powers, but that didn’t give anyone the right to lock you up in a rubber cell. And try to run experiments on you! When you escaped they were going to get the shock ( Pun not intended) of their sad little lives when you broke out. Since you couldn’t use your electricity on the guards who wore protective rubber suits, you would have to try and overpower them which worried you. But it was hella worth a shot.  
“ Inmate! Left corner now!” You stood and walked towards the designated corner while they came in to secure you. They didn’t have guns because you were apparently vital to their experiment but they had nightsticks. “Joe, seriously?” You feigned being hurt but of course, he knew you were being sarcastic. “ Alright whatever,” You grumbled, and turned placing your hands on the back of your head. As soon as you felt him prepare to restrain you, you whipped around and began to attack. “ Inmate!” he yelled before you punched him as hard you could. Zapping people was your forte, not hand to hand combat. As soon as he was beaten to the point you could escape, you did. You burst out the door, called over your shoulder “Goodbye, prick!” and ran as fast as your legs could go, sending out volts of electricity, making cameras malfunction and light fixtures explode. You paused, breathing harshly when you heard a tortured scream. You looked around, trying to follow the source, but you found it soon enough. You saw a door that was labeled “ Observation Deck,” which you snuck into. You froze when you saw a couple people in there, but they were wholly focused on the room below. Another scream made your heart clench. “ Hey!” Shit, you were caught. You stood and clapped your hands together as hard as possible, causing you to make an EMP that shut down the whole building, and you really hadn’t thought this through. While the electricity was down, the people were still awake, and you felt exhausted. You bolted down the stairs that lead down from the observation deck to the room below. You mustered the last of your energy and tased the scientists, if you could call them that, with your hands. They fell to the floor twitching and groaning. You could see a little with the room’s emergency lights flashing. You caught a glimpse of red as you undid the straps and pulled them off the table. You cursed as you overestimated how much strength you had. You and the person went down to the floor. The backup power flickered on and you gasped at the person in your weak arms. You stared down at the Flash, barely conscious with some sort of collar around his neck. “An inhibitor collar,” You whispered to yourself. He seemed to wake up a bit. “C’mon we gotta get out of here,” You say. He struggled to his feet and you put his arm around your shoulder and you both started to hobble away. If you let out another EMP you could take out the power again but you would most certainly lose consciousness. Not good at all. “ There,” he said pointing to an emergency exit to the left of the room. You went to it and went through the relatively empty hallway. The sound of an explosion made you both stop, look at each other, and try to hobble faster, which wasn’t easy considering both of you wanted to pass out. You found the elevator that would take you to the ground floor. Flash and you collapsed in the elevator once it got moving. “ Stupid fucking elevator music,” You cursed angrily. You had been kidnapped, poked and prodded, Flash (you were pretty sure now) practically tortured and they had the nerve to put music in their elevators. You angrily kicked the panel. “ Alright, I’m ten percent sure I can get that off you,” You said, causing him to blanche. “ Only ten?! Because though our odds aren’t great right now, this place is filled with armed guards, so the odds are even lower than before, only ten percent isn’t that great, does that mean we’ll-” His rambling was cut off as you reached forward, not quite grabbing the collar. Your hand hovered by his throat. “ Do you want me to try or not,” You asked calmly. “ Yeah, ok, though don’t electrocute me because that would an ironic way to go, considering-” Flash’s jaw snapped shut as your fingers curled around the collar and you gave it a couple pulses of electricity. His eyes went wide when he heard it sizzling and as soon as it clicked open, you ripped it off and threw it in the farthest corner from both of you, where it began to crackle and smoke. “ You’re bleeding,” he said and you slumped against the wall, ignoring the gross feeling of the blood sliding down the back of your throat. “ It’s okay. It’ll stop in a minute. My name’s Y/n L/n, but my friends call me Scout.” You looked up at the floor counter above the elevator doors. You and the Flash locked eyes as it reached one. It dinged and the doors began to slide open.


	2. Chapter 2

Flash had recuperated a bit since you removed the collar but you still felt like shit. He turned to you. “ hold on and try not to throw up,” he said and before you could question what he meant, your world had turned into a blur. He set you down at the base of a tree while you regained some of your spatial awareness. You looked up at the plumes of smoke rising from the facility in the distance. “ Holy shit..” You said in amazement. “ We’re a couple miles away now. Just uh, stay here while I look around.”   
Again, you had no time to protest before he had whizzed off, the buzz of electricity sharp in the air. It was weird to not be the cause for once. He appeared maybe four seconds later. “ So uh bad news, Scout, this isn’t just any old forest. It’s a forest on an island, and the explosion damaged the warehouse with all the boats in it, and there’s only one helicopter, but that was damaged as well, and by the looks of it some experiments may have escaped, so the staff are freaking out and just as desperate and trapped as us.” It was your turn to blanche until you turned into a tornado of cussing. Should you cuss in front a superhero? Shit, he might have been your age or a little older, so you continued cursing. At least none of the guards seemed to care about your foul language, and it would have made you angrier if they had.   
Wait… had your EMP caused some of the experiments to escape? Could it have? You buried your face in your hands. “ Are you crying? Uh, it’s going to be okay Scout.” He said awkwardly. “ I’m not crying. I’m just frustrated.” You’re head snapped up at the sound of his grumbling stomach. It was so normal and human...superheroes got hungry and drank coffee in the morning, probably. You shook your head and burst out laughing. You yourself might feel better if you ate or drank something. “The safe houses,” you said. “ I know place we might be able keep our heads down.” While prisoner on the island (though you hadn’t known it was an island at the time) Dr. Kleberg, you, and some other staff had gone to these safe houses to wait out a hurricane that had hit. You hadn’t really explored the place for obvious reasons, but you knew there was food and relatively solid walls between you and the escaped experiments. You shorted out the electric locks and let yourself in. Flash went to the fridge immediately while you looked around. “ fucking pricks,” you grumbled as you looked around. You had been forced into the reinforced cell of a basement while they stayed up here, in this log cabin style house. While looking around, you found a Kenny Chesney cd, which you knew was Dr. Kleberg’s. You opened the case, took out the cd and promptly nuked it in the microwave. Flash gave you a confused and maybe scared(?) look but you sat across from him and ate a pop tart. It was too sweet after eating a strict diet in the compound but you pushed through and finished it. You fucking deserved it. “So, how’d you get your powers?” He asked. You had thought about that yourself, not quite sure. You might’ve been affected by something at one point in your life that caused your electric powers, or you could have been born this way. You shrugged and started on another pop tart. “ Who knows. I only found out because this one girl-we’re not friends anymore-stuck me with her mom’s taser and nothing happened. I thought it was a fluke you know.” Flash’s expression was hilarious and you wished you could take a picture. “ You were tased? By someone who was your friend?!” You gave him an incredulous look. “Well we aren’t anymore!” you said and then guessed he was getting at something else. You looked at him, and he seemed distracted, like he had a million things going on at once in, there, which let’s face it was probably true. “ Also, I kind of don’t go outside during thunderstorms. I’m like a goddamn lightning rod, which sucks. Being out in the rain is awesome. That was until almost every tree around my house got struck by lightning,” You told him that last bit sheepishly. After he was done eating (Where did it all go, you wondered) you crept closer to the window. “Wait..I hear something,” You realized what it was too late, but it wasn’t too late for him. He was across the room instantly, hooked an arm around your waist and dragged you towards the safe house’s living room. And then he fucking tripped. You weren’t mad about it exactly, once you realized why you were in the living room and not being torn to pieces by the giant lizard wrecking the kitchen apart, but you had hit your head on the coffee table when you both went rolling. Dazed, you looked up and locked eyes with the lizard, which had to be at least 21 feet long. It had burst right through the metal barricade on the window. You didn’t give it the chance to lunge. “ Water! On the floor now!” You yelled, and Flash took off again, and busted the sink fixture! Water sprayed all over it and he stayed on top of the wooden table. You slammed your hand into the water and forced as much electricity as you could into the creature. It gave the most ear-splitting cross between and scream and howl and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t feel bad for it. You cringed at the corpse. It’s flesh had bubbled and split like a hot dog weenie and you felt sick. You had never killed anything before. Flash seemed to feel the same way, until finally he pried his eyes off of it.   
Was there any safe place on the island to go? Should you try to just get away from the melee for now? “There’s innocent people…” He turned to you. “ I can help,” You could try and help, anyway. He took a shaky breath. “Here goes nothing,” Your stomach found its way up your throat when he zoomed right into the frying pan...or fire, whatever both were bad. Flash went into the building to help anyone who was trapped or couldn’t find an exit. Although he was mostly a blur, you felt the charge of electricity. You zapped some lizards and cleared a pathway for some of the staff, either wounded or coughing from the smoke strangling their lungs. What was it the firefighters had said when visiting your elementary school? If the smoke was hot enough, it could cook you from the inside out? Who the fuck thought it was alright to tell kids that?! “Arrggh!” You yelled you were only working yourself up into a frenzy! ‘Good thoughts Y/n, good thoughts,’ you told yourself. Some of the staff eyed you wearily, too defeated to think of being overly scared of you, but when you fried a lizard that lunged at one of them, they gathered behind you. “The fire is spreading!” someone behind you cried, and just your damn luck he was right. “ Get down to the beach!” You commanded. You weren’t sure if it was the lack of oxygen to their brains, or they were somehow still pompous enough to resent having to take orders from you, that they didn’t budge! “ Go! Now!” You stomped your foot and slammed both hands into the ground, electrocuting a pack of the lizards. They began to finally make their way towards the beach. When one woman stumbled you grabbed her arm and she gave you a guilty look before taking off. Without thanking you of course. You looked around. Dead, fried, lizards were scattered around you, but you were so pumped on adrenaline you didn’t have time to be disgusted with yourself. You turned to follow the facilities employees down to the water, but a gunshot rang out. You didn’t feel it at first, but then it finally hit you all at once, You collapsed to the ground with a cry and stomping towards you was Dr. Kleberg. Flash either hadn’t heard you scream, or was still getting people out of the building. You whimpered and clamped your hands down over your lower thigh. “Impressive,” He said looking at the lizard corpses. “ You have so much potential Y/n,” he purred and when he stepped closer, he smirked when you tried to scramble away. You would have tried to explode his ass to high heaven but his rubber boots kept you from getting him through the ground and you were exhausted from fighting the lizards. He came closer again and you threw a few bolts of electricity but they were weak, and his custom rubber suit kept him safe. “Stay away from me!” you snarled but at this point, you were no threat to him. Your eyes grew wide as he reloaded his gun. Until a certain someone in red and blue landed behind him. “ Have nice day thunder cuck,” You said with a smirk despite the immense burning pain in your leg, and kissed you middle finger before proudly displaying it to Kleberg. He raised the gun but Superman easily took it from him and crushed it to uselessness. Flash came back soon enough. “ OhmyGodScoutyou’rehurt,” you barely understood him. “It’s alright, Flash, the proper authorities have been alerted and a medical team is here on site.” You heard the helicopters before you saw them, and Flash got you down to the beach where a couple medical tents had been set up. Shit, the government moved fast. Once you were whisked into a tent everything became blurry and you passed out.  
“Aquaman, she is resting,” You heard a woman say. You groaned and tried to move but your leg felt tight and uncomfortable. Stitches and bandages, you supposed. “Best not to move.” Said the nurse… or you guessed. She had an assault rifle in the tent. “Don’t worry, this is just if one of the staff in custody decides to try any funny business. Anyway, Aquaman came in any way and asked you a very important question, not about the facility or giant lizards. “ Holy crap little girl, did you really call Kleberg a thunder cuck?” You pursed your lips when you saw the other heroes peeking in at you. Your face was hot with embarrassment. “ yeah,” and he laughed so heartily you gave a weak smile.  
“ You should make sure Scout gets to the hospital alright,” Wonder woman suggested startling both of you. You pretended to be asleep again until you were safely in the air and out of their line of immediate sight. You opened your eyes to catch Flash staring at you. He blushed and tried to be smooth about it. “So...about giant lizards. Thanks for getting that off of you...me, I mean, you took it off of me, and that power outage, was that you also? And those scientists, you just zapped them like a taser, which is actually kind of cool, you’re like a human taser and that giant lizard thing…” his voice trailed off. You tensed. You had done that. You had fried that thing, cooked it from the inside out right in front of him. “ Thanks for saving me when it jumped in. Not the smartest move on my part, going near the window,” You whispered. “ Sorry about the living room thing, but at least my face didn’t land on your boobs,” You raised an eyebrow. He realized what he said and tried to backtrack. “Not- NOt that I was thinking about your boobs you see this one time it happened by accident and well-” At least the helicopter ride was slightly entertaining. There was at least that.


	3. Chapter 3

What happened after you arrived back to the mainland was hectic and you mostly got headaches from everything. You eventually learned that the island you’d been kept prisoner was near Rhode Island, which wasn’t far off from you home state of New Jersey. You were taken to a hospital there and looked over, but aside from the needle marks in your arm from where blood had been drawn and the gunshot wound on your leg, you were otherwise unharmed. You were questioned, of course, but you couldn’t provide much information about the experiments themselves or Dr. Kleberg. “This is a damned shit show,” you heard someone say as they passed your hospital room, District Attorney of the county, Mia Hargrove. Apparently she had been after Marcus Kleberg for years for alleged illegal experimentation but she hadn’t been able to pin him for anything. Then he slithered into the woodpile like a snake and disappeared. You weren’t sure what the heroes had done but not once had you been asked about your powers, despite that being the reason Kleberg took you in the first place. You had watched all of ‘How to get away With Murder’ and you still didn’t get any of the legal talk you heard. You tried to clear your head as you stared out of the plane’s window at the puffy white clouds.  
You were nineteen but sometimes you still called Shea your legal guardian in your head. Your somewhat distant cousin, yes, but she was the one waiting anxiously to spot you at the airport. “ Scout!” She shouted and yanked you into a hug, then regretted it when she remembered your injured leg. She grabbed your shoulders and gripped them hard enough to hurt. “ I thought I’d never see you again,” Shea looked to be on the verge of tears and you were sure you’d never seen Shea cry, not even when she broke her arm in a car accident when you were twelve. She hugged you again more carefully but it was just as meaningful.  
Shit, your roommates probably thought you were dead and had thrown all of your things out. You also might’ve lost your job while AWOL but it wasn’t by choice. If they hadn’t sold what was valuable first. Eh, you didn’t blame them if they had. Apartments were not getting any cheaper.  
You couldn’t believe you were going home...yeah, home. You supposed you had been a happier kid when Shea had taken you in, and you did like being in the countryside. “ You okay?” Shea asked and you nodded your head. “Everything is sinking in finally,” you whispered. Shea had found out about your powers when she caught you sticking a fork in a power outlet and you didn’t die horribly. You told her the tazing story, explained that you couldn’t be electrocuted and then displayed your powers, electricity dancing between your fingertips. Alright, so maybe you weren’t the best person to task with trying out theories if you were going to go all Mythbusters and stick a fork in an outlet, but Shea had an easier time believing you about your powers after seeing that. As stupid as it was. So there you were safe and sound at Shea’s small countryside home after she demanded you stay there for a few weeks until press coverage about Kleberg died down. You guessed it was a good idea. After calling your roommates (who had thought you died, so theory correct) and calling into work and them not believing you were a recuperating kidnapping victim -Shea grabbed the phone and explained to your manager real quick you were telling the truth-You were effectively jobless and didn’t have any other place to stay.  
So realistically, Shea knew what she was talking about. At least one of your roommates had boxed up your things and brought most of it to Shea. You’d have to thank Liz later. When you got out of the car, she crushed you in a hug again, making you slightly worried. It wasn’t that you had thought Shea didn’t love you, but she was usually so reserved in the physical affection department, it weirded you out. “Made your favorite,” She said as you followed her into the house. “Started planning it after I got the call you’d been found,” You felt bashful. “ Shit, Shea you sure know how to welcome a girl home,” You said with a weak laugh. She put the tv on for background noise and you two tucked in, you telling her some stuff about Kleberg’s sadistic little island where he did his experiments. You left out the part where you found the Flash. His pained scream was still crystal clear in your head and you didn’t want to think about it. Shea noticed when you faltered but she paid no mind to it. She knew when you would be ready to talk to her.  
You leaned back in you seat when done eating and took a deep breath. “ I think I’m going into a food coma.” Shea laughed. “ I haven’t seen you eat like that since you were fourteen. “ Well that dick bag Kleberg made me watch what I ate and I sure didn’t appreciate it.” You scowled and then let it go. You were home. You winced as your leg twinged as it did every now and again. The shot had been clean and missed bone. They simply stitched you up and pumped you full of drugs. “ Do you need your pain pills?” She asked when she noticed and you shook your head. The pills knocked you the hell out and you had always hated that feeling.   
Around ten, you and Shea went to bed but you simply rolled around in bed. Your room was almost the same as you had left it. There were some old sketches and some pictures of people you used to consider friends. You didn’t even know why you hadn’t taken them down. Maybe to give some sort of illusion? It didn’t matter. You decided you would take them down in the morning.  
Although Shea didn't’ want too, she had to go to work the next day, leaving you alone. “ I’ll be fine, really,” you insisted but still fussed over you until she had to leave or she’d be late. You hugged her goodbye and sat on the couch, your stitches protesting. The doctor had said it was okay to sit and such but to go down slowly. You watched ‘Say yes to the Dress’ for half an hour until you got annoyed with everyone telling the bride what she should wear and changed the channel. Or at least wanted to. You channel surfed but didn’t find anything good. You were practically dying of boredom. Then there was the growl of thunder so you got up and peeked outside. There were tons of clouds, dark and heavy with rain, drifting closer to the house. You smirked and put on your shoes and hoodie before venturing outside and disappearing into the woods. Besides, you wouldn’t want the house to get struck, did you? You walked for a while and leaned against a tree, taking in the fresh air. Shit, you had spent months in the rubber cell, hadn't you? It was nice to be outside. You felt the lightning before you saw it, and when it slammed down into a tree with all the force it had, you flinched at the noise. There was an arc of orange and white light when it struck. “ So you weren’t kidding about the lightning rod thing were you?” You nearly leapt out of your skin when you heard his voice. “ Fucking hell!” You said clutching at your chest when you saw the familiar red suit. “ Sorry about that,” he said and shifted from foot to foot. “ What are you doing here?” You asked and stepped a little closer, hands jammed in your pockets. You felt awkward and tried not to show it, but ah, well… “ Came to ask you about Kleberg...anything he might’ve been doing…” You nodded.  
“ Let’s go back to the house then,” You suggested once it started raining. He fell into step beside you and you caught him staring at the bandage on your leg since you were wearing jean shorts. You didn’t really mind, though and wondered what Shea would think if she came home to find you with the Flash in her living room. “So you came all this way to ask me about Kleberg?” You said it innocently enough but he tripped when you said that and rubbed the back of his head. ‘ Okay, I gotta tell you that, uh well Batman’s worried someone might come after you again.” You reached for the fridge and stopped short. “You mean...you mean you came here to check on me basically,” You said and stared him down. “ I guess when you put it that way-Aw, I’m touched,” you said with a devilish smile and you could have sworn he was blushing. Maybe it was because you were bored to death but something possessed you to ask him “ Do you get hot in that suit? Or is it pretty breathable?” You leaned forward on the kitchen counter and waited for his answer. “I- it’s made of, you know what Scout, you’re perfectly fine, I think I should get going!” And he was out the door and probably out of the state before you could say anything else. You burst out laughing and grabbed something to eat. If you saw him again you might have to remind him he didn’t answer your question.


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn’t long before journalists and reporters got ahold of your name somehow. There was all kinds of buzz about Dr. Kleberg so you guessed it was only a matter of time. You’d given your statement to the authorities at the hospital and Mia Hargrove said they would contact you if need be. You knew cases like this could drag on for months, even years. You didn’t look forward to that. You were in town and had called your former roommates to tell them you would be stopping by to pick up any items and just let them know you really were okay. Shea and you had gone to the mall to window shop but your leg had started to hurt a bit so she had reluctantly left you in a cafe. “Okay, but if anyone (code for reporters) tries to mess with you, you know..give ‘em a little zap, nothing too obvious,” Shea had said which left you incredulous. Shea had always encouraged you to defend yourself but not with your powers. Ever since the incident, she’d been insanely protective of you as if you were a tiny twelve year old that got swept away by big crowds easily (true story). You ordered your drink and sat away from everyone, mostly waiting for shea to come back. Your phone dinged and when you checked it, it was from Liz. ‘when are you coming?’ and you cracked a smile. ‘In a while, calm the fuck down,’ she would know your text had no bite to it. “Y/n L/n/?” You looked up at a strawberry blonde woman. “I’m Lois Lane,”  
You weren’t sure what to think for a minute but you froze nonetheless. “ Mind if sit down?” She asked and you snapped out of it. “ yeah sure,” You said. You knew she was a reporter but you had the sense she wasn’t like the other ones. “ let me guess, you’re covering the Kleberg case?” You asked and she nodded. “I’m sorry to bother you like this,” she said and you shrugged. “ Well, you know my name will be plastered over everything if it wasn’t by now so, what the hell,” you said good-naturedly and you liked the fact she wasn’t taken aback by your coarse language. It bothered a lot of people.  
“ Of course it will be some time before the official story comes out,” she explained and you nodded. She had a notepad and small recorder, which she brought out. “Where do you want me to start?” you asked. “From the beginning,” she said, blue eyes full of fire. You told her about being kidnapped right outside of the department store you had worked at, waking up in a rubber cell. “ Why rubber?” she asked and you closed your eyes in self-annoyance. Her brows knit together not in confusion but in curiosity.   
Before you could say anything, you heard a gunshot and a scream! The both of you shot out of your seats but it was only a kid that had been leaning his chair back on the back two legs and had fallen over and hit his head, not too hard luckily. Your heart was about to pound out your chest and Lois seemed to notice it. Sitting down, you put your hand on the recorder. “Can this go off the record?” You asked. “ Of course,” she turned it off. “ I saw and heard things I’ll never forget. Clear as day in my head. I don’t know what Kleberg was doing to him but…” You felt your eyes prickle and tears fell down your face. Lois handed you a napkin and you quickly tried to regain composure. She leaned closer. “ Doing what to who?” she asked softly. You rapidly tapped your nails on the table. “ The Flash. I- I heard screaming. I had escaped and there were people watching it…” Something seemed to click in her head, a shadow crossing her face. She put her hand over yours, a gesture that surprised you. “ Y/n, I’m so sorry any of this happened to you,” She said and when she removed her hand from yours, she finally noticed your bruised knuckles from where you’d fought the guard and escaped. “ At least you got some hits in,” and you let out a laugh. You had that satisfaction at least. “ Hey, um you know as a reporter, I’ve gotten myself into some pretty dangerous situations,” as Lois said this she wrote something down on a piece of paper, “ And I know it can take a pretty big toll. If you ever need someone to talk to..,” she handed you the paper, a phone number written on it. You had now taken a liking to Lois, who kind of reminded you of Shea. “ Oh, wow, thank you so much,” You were genuinely touched by the gesture. Shit, not even your middle school guidance counselors had been this caring, and Lois didn’t even know you. Had it been any other reporter you were sure they would not have been as empathetic as Lois. Maybe that’s what made her an excellent writer.  
Lois was gone by the time Shea came back which you were thankful for. You weren’t sure how she would have reacted and you quickly tucked the paper with her number on it into your purse. Your leg was burning now and when you checked it in the restroom, you saw a splotch of blood on the white bandage. Your breathing was harsh now as you slowly peeled it back and stared at the gunshot wound. It was crusted with blackened, dried, blood, the stitches sticking out awkwardly. It was fucking disgusting. You carefully placed it back and left the restroom. Shea saw that were you shaking a little and immediately rushed you out. “ Scout, are you hurting? What happened. It was nothing. Some kid fell in his chair and it startled the crap out of me, no big deal,” you explained, forcing a smile on your face, but you felt faint. Guess you weren’t going to stop by the apartment anymore.  
Once at home, you took a pain pill willingly for once and crashed out. The nightmares didn’t start right away, not like you thought they would. Of course, they would start now. It was blurry and none of it made sense but did dreams or nightmares ever make sense once you woke up? You were back on the damned island and running from the lizards. One of them pounced on you, causing you to thrash wildly and you wrapped your hands around its throat and unleashed all the electricity you could muster! You gasped as you shoved the fried corpse off of you, only to see it wasn’t a lizard anymore but the man who had saved you. You sobbed as you realized you killed the Flash! “ I didn’t mean to,” You cried, your hands, those destructive hands, hovering over him. You didn’t snap awake like people did in the movies. You didn’t bolt upright covered in sweat. But for a split second, after you woke, you were scared shitless that you were back on the island. You buried your face in the pillow and tried not to cry. Sometimes this happened. You woke up from a nightmare and didn’t cry right away. You had scared the shit out of Shea once after she had driven you to school and you’d abruptly burst into tears in the parking lot. “ She’s asleep right now. Her leg was giving her trouble,” You quickly wiped your face and took a few deep breaths so your skin color went back to normal.  
You threw on some presentable clothes so you didn’t appear like a rumpled mess to whoever Shea was talking to, Liz most likely. You also slapped some concealer on and finally went into the living room, feigning cheeriness. “ Hey Shea, who’s here?” you asked in a chipper voice. Bruce fucking WAYNE was in your living room. You stared for a few seconds like an idiot-you sure felt like one when you thought back on the moment-before collecting yourself. “ Oh, uh, nice to meet you, sir,” You said respectfully, striding over to shake his hand. “ Likewise, Miss L/n,” you were half sure his grip almost break your fingers. Shea looked she was debating whether to she wanted to kick your ass or not. It’s not like you had done anything! “I’ll give you a moment to...discuss some things,” Shea left the living room before you could ask any questions. Incredulous, you turned to Mr. Wayne. “I’m...not in trouble am I?” You asked cautiously and he shook his head. “Nothing like that. But I do have some questions for you,” Alright...you were still confused. Until he pulled a taser from the inside of his coat. Was this what you thought it was?! “This is the strongest setting on this one,” He said and turned it on to some impressive crackles. You pulled back the sleeve of your shirt and without hesitation, placed your palm right on the prongs, your fingers closing around the barrel of it. You looked up at him. “Everything you were hoping for?” You asked, not without humor in your voice. “ Luckily, I’ve never really had to use this taser, much less this strong a setting,” Like that explained things.  
“ I need to know everything you saw on the island. About Kleberg,” You grew serious. “ Yeah..yeah I’ll tell you everything I remember,” So there was the elephant in the room. You leaned a little closer. “ So...you’re Batman?” He sighed, looked around to maybe see if Shea wasn’t eavesdropping. “ Yes,” He answered dead serious.   
You promptly refrained from freaking out.   
You weren’t sure if Shea didn’t want you to go or not but she simply told you to be careful and made another pot of coffee as you left with, might you repeat again, Bruce fucking WAYNE!


	5. Chapter 5

Barry was distracted as he and Arthur sparred resulting in him getting punched. Since Arthur was going easy on him, Barry only stumbled back a few feet instead of flying across the room. “C’mon kid, you’ve got to focus. I know, I’ve just been thinking- About Y/n? You like her or what?” Barry suddenly wished he had been punched across the room. Luckily Diana and Vic walked in just then. “Arthur, Barry come here. Victor managed to retrieve most of the information from the computers.” Vic linked up with the main monitor and a barrage of files appeared. “Hmm, just a sec’...and there,” he said, organizing the files so it wasn’t a jumbled mess. The first file had Y/n’s full name, a photo as well as her height, weight, and even blood type. “He’s obsessed with meta-humans,” Diana said as they examined more files. There was a tense silence as they all spotted an all too familiar name. “Bruce is not going to be happy.” Barry then nearly died on the spot as he heard the Bat of Gotham behind him. “ I’m not going to be happy about what,” Though his voice seemed to carry that he already knew. Since he was physically capable, Barry whipped around quick as lightning, a million little quips on the tip of his tongue that dissolved the second he saw you standing next to Bruce.  
Okay, so seeing Barry be startled out of his skin by Bruce was kind of funny but the real reason you were so quiet was seeing everyone out of their suits. Learning their names had been surreal as well. That car ride with Bruce had been a real doozy. Since when was the Flash this attractive? Anyway, your eyes zeroed in on the computer containing all the information Kleberg had on you. “ Luther had been funding Kleberg?” Bruce asked and left you standing there to see the information for himself. “Of course he had something to do with this,” He growled. “By the looks of it, he wanted to find out what made metahumans tick,” That did not sound fun. “He seemed incredibly fascinated by your electricity. It sounds like he wanted to harness it for himself somehow.” Barry made a face and turned to you. “Wait, you didn’t you say you’d been struck by lightning before?” That caught everyone’s attention. “That’s almost a billion volts,” Victor said. That was true. You’d been struck but you hadn’t walked away from it from all peaches and cream. You’d been unconscious in the woods for over thirty-six hours after being struck and you told them so. "Wait, what does that say," You asked, as something caught your eye. "It says that the reason you don't get electrocuted or shocked is that you absorb it into your body, as well as expel it," Victor said, looking fascinated. "That's good to know," You whispered. The more you know. Kleberg was a scientist after all. “Maybe that’s why they took you too,” Victor said, looking at Barry. There must have been hundreds of files and that was a headache all by itself. “Those men were in the observation deck. They were watching them…” You stole a glance at Barry and couldn’t bring yourself to say it. “Allies of LexCorp. I know them. They deal in the black market.” You didn’t know it but Bruce and Diana had retrieved hundreds of priceless artifacts from them and done their best to shut it down. But they had hurt Barry...kidnapped you. With the files and you there to regale as much info as you could, it was time to call it a day. Everyone was exhausted and your leg was hurting a little. “ Hey Barry, you should stop by some time. We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other anyway,” you said casually. Go big or go home, Y/n, you told yourself. “Y-yeah, sure thing,” He said trying to hide the fact that he was blushing.  
The next few days were slow and steady. Almost too good to be true. Now that you thought back about your maybe flirting with Barry, you kind of felt like an idiot. He was a fucking superhero and you were...well you were something. Anyway, it felt good to be back in Central City. You needed to go to your apartment and either get your things or move back in. Liz would be happy to see you either way. Should you tell her about Barry? You didn’t have time to think about it because she crushed you in a hug the second she opened the door. Her boyfriend, Ethan hugged you as well. They had genuinely thought you dead for all those weeks. Wow. “Shit, y/n we need you back. Everyone who calls about the vacancy is either a junkie or some milk shitter,” you laughed nervously and sat down. “ I mean, I don’t have a job. But you were kidnapped that wasn’t your fault. Yeah, well Claudia doesn’t want to hire me back.” Finally, Ethan spoke up. “ I have this friend at the mall who could probably get you a nice job at the department store. She says they need someone who has experience. You’ve got that don’t you?” It was true that you had worked at a Macy’s and a Dillard’s, both nice places. “You guys are the fucking best!” You exclaimed. Neither of them asked you about the kidnapping or Kleberg. In fact, the only people you had talked to about it were Lois and the League. Liz’s phone dinged. “Oh sorry...Holy shit,” Liz tapped the notification and held up her phone for you to see. “Breaking news, physiologist Marcus Kleberg, arrested for kidnapping and torture has escaped Hapwell Corrections Facility,” You felt dizzy and you grabbed onto the couch for support. That asshole was not messing around. Did Luther have someone break him out? “I- I need to go,” You told Liz and Ethan. “Are you sure? I can give you a ride,” Liz offered but you shook your head. “ I just need to get home,” You were out the door before they could stop you. Okay think Y/n, just go somewhere anywhere! You were on the move for about thirty minutes when a van pulled up and men began to pour out of it. Kleberg’s prison break must’ve been coordinated with this bullshit. Something whizzed by your ear as you moved. Again, you were not a fighter but you would have to make do. Some of the men had tranquilizer guns and the other ones had inhibitor collars and nightsticks at the ready. As they tried to apprehend you, you unleashed all the electricity you could. You also slipped your backpack partly off your back and swung that like a weapon. You yelped as they fired a dart at you and so you hiked up your backpack, the dart sticking into the coarse material. You hurled it at the guy and managed to knock him off balance at least, and zap three of them! They went down, their limbs not responding to their brains. There was the crackle of electricity and the men looked down at their weaponless hands. A familiar blur whizzed by and knocked their heads together.  
Barry grabbed you and took off just as another car pulled up leaving them in the dust. He didn’t stop until you were at a warehouse that looked abandoned. He set you down but you weren’t sure you’d ever get used to that feeling. “ Are you okay. Fine..perfectly fine.” which in reality, the adrenaline had yet to level out. “How’d you find me?” He opened the door and you went in, momentarily forgetting what you’d asked him as you stared at the computers and machinery. “Saw the news, ran to your house. Shea said you were at your old apartment so I ran here.” You suddenly had the overwhelming urge to grab onto him and bury your face in his chest because you had just about had it with people trying to experiment on you but you did not do so. It would probably freak him the fuck out anyway. Wait, was that K-pop playing in the background?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was very tired when I wrote this so please forgive any grammatical errors, thanks for reading and I do apologize for not updating in so long


	6. Chapter 6

To be completely honest, Barry had taken off the second he saw the news (literally). Sure, he had yelled to Vic, “I’ll make sure she’s alright,” before darting away to which he grumbled, “Just ask her out already,” and Barry pretended not to hear it. Sure Victor had been popular in High School and very probably knew what he was talking about in regards to dating and girls but he wasn’t even sure Y/n was interested. Maybe Barry did know better with what her asking him if it was hot in his suit and telling him to stop by more. That was flirting, wasn’t it? And while one of his old foster mothers had been very adamant that cursing was far from ladylike, Barry couldn’t help but like that about Y/n, how she just didn’t seem to care. That and the fact that Y/n genuinely seemed to actually like his presence. Of course, he knew that didn’t equate her reciprocating his feelings but again, she hadn’t made heart racing remarks to either Arthur or Victor.  
At first, it hadn’t seemed that he liked her. Yeah, he thought Y/n were pretty and some cool girl who shot electricity out of her hands but it wasn’t until Arthur had asked if he liked Y/n, that Barry kind of had his oh shit moment.   
And here he was with Y/n...in his warehouse.  
“You know, this place is pretty sweet,” You said to Barry, still looking around.   
“You think so? Most people just call me or a nerd or a weirdo,” Your head snapped up when he said that and he looked like he regretted saying it at all. “Most people as in…” You asked with your eyebrows raised. “Really Y/n, it’s no big deal. It was just in high school and some of the foster homes.” You stepped closer. “If it means anything, I think it’s amazing,” You said, moving even closer and touching his arm. He leaned the tiniest bit closer...did his lips always look this kissable? You both jumped apart as someone knocked on the doors of the warehouse. “It’s Diana. It’s safe to come out,” You and Barry looked at each other, both of you visibly red. “Uh, we should get going. Yeah,” You mumbled. You hoped Diana didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. She notices everything though.  
“He was using Barry and Y/n to try and activate this machine?” Clark asked. You just couldn’t catch a break, could you? You crossed your arms as Victor produced a hologram of a machine that all in all, wasn’t the most extraordinary looking thing. “At first, it didn’t seem to be that dangerous but the more information I was able to get out of the computers and Dr. Kleberg’s personal files, the more it made sense. In essence, this is a bomb.” Your blood froze in your veins when Victor said it. As it turns out, the machine which Kleberg called the Jupiter Core had not been on the same island in which you’d been held. Although he theorized that you could activate it properly, there was a chance he would be able to kickstart some other way. You were his ideal choice though. “That’s not all. The surge of electricity would be strong enough to make anything electrical, phones, tv’s, household appliances explode. If that thing goes off, it’ll take out the whole eastern seaboard,” In other words, it would punch a black hole into the United States. America was drenched in technology...it would be catastrophic. You stumbled back overwhelmed and Barry caught your arm. And everyone seemed to notice. “Y/n, we won’t let him get away with this. We’ll destroy the Jupiter Core,” Clark said and you almost believed it. “Now we need to find Kleberg,” Bruce said.   
Bruce already had several possible leads as to where Kleberg might be and the hours seem to scrape by. “ Are you alright?” You looked up, pulled from your thoughts as Diana sat next to you. If an Amazonian Princess wasn’t intimidating you didn’t know what was. “ Yeah. It’s been a crazy ride.” You said. You glanced back at Barry and Victor who were trying to figure out how to turn off the Jupiter Core should it be activated. You didn’t want to think about it. “ Something happened between you and Barry at the warehouse.” It wasn’t a question. You bit the inside of your cheek, blushing. “We, uh almost kissed.” Diana got a faraway look in her eyes. “Y/n, my only advice is to act before it is too late,” Although her demeanor was kind, there was a hint of bittersweetness. Shit got too real too fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter is a tad short buuuuuuuuuuut...I'll live.


	7. Chapter 7

You paced incessantly with Diana’s words bouncing around in your head. Carpe Diem, seize the day and all that good shit. You hadn’t slept very well but it was sleep nonetheless. Shea knew you were safe for now and Bruce had beefed up the security around her house in case Kleberg tried anything. Shea had protected you for so long...now you would return the favor. Turns out Bruce didn’t need to do much detecting in the end because Kleberg had been spotted on the coast. And now St. Mary’s lighthouse was where Dr. Kleberg had turned on the Jupiter Core. The only problem was that no one had figured out how to shut it down without wiping out a couple states. “What if I grab it and take it out of the atmosphere before it blows?” Clark suggested. Vic shook his head. “ No, if it gets damaged, it’s designed to go off anyway.” At first, Clark had no intention of allowing you to be there for the final showdown, which as the leader and Superman, you wholly respected the decision. You had powers but no actual suit or training. Barry had at least that when he joined the league and if not for the Jupiter Core, they might not have needed you. But the Core changed everything. Nothing was ever as simple as it should be. Right before you left, you approached Barry. “ Hey, can I talk to you? Uh, yeah sure,” You could’ve sworn you saw Victor give Barry a thumbs up.  
“About what happened at the warehouse,” You and Barry said at the same time. “You first,” You said and he shook his head. “It’s okay you first,” You swallowed thickly.  
“ I know things have been crazy these past few days...weeks and for starters, you might not even feel the same way-I do,” He blurted out. “Please tell I just said that I feel the same way about a good thing, because if not well that’s awkward and I should probably shut my mouth. What I’m saying is...I like you. As in date you like you.” For a second Barry froze. Yeah, he’d always felt a little hurt that he’d never really gone out with anyone save for Ashley Morrel in the ninth grade, but she’d asked him out as a joke so that didn’t count. But as he looked into you e/c eyes, there was a beauty in them that almost made his heart stop and in the ‘I’m kind of okay if she stops my heart’ way. You know, the not murderous stop your heart. “ Y/n, I know I’m weird and I’ve never done this before...that’s embarrassing to admit, but I want to be with you too.” Maybe what he had just said was all wrong and you’d turn on your heel and leave. You didn’t. “Time to go,” Came Clark’s voice. There was so much more both of you wanted to say, didn’t really know how.   
You were to stay in the Flying Fox unless told otherwise ( like anything would go according to plan) while they got to the Jupiter Core. The second you flew over St. Mary’s you knew it was going to be one hell of a fight. Swarming below were hundreds of Kleberg’s lizard experiments, some of even standing on their hind legs like a human. You hadn’t seen that on the island! There was a serious power coming from the top of the lighthouse. You could feel it from here, in your skin, hair, hell you could taste it. This would turn out okay. They would deactivate the Core and Barry would come back in one piece. Right? They all would. Sparks began to rain down from the top of the lighthouse and you sucked in a breath as the air came to life and crackled with heat. You didn’t even have time to react as a vein of electricity lashed out wildly from the lighthouse and struck the flying fox! You flew backward but Barry caught right you away at his own expense, his back slamming into the armored wall of the vehicle. His mind didn’t even seem to process any information. He just acted to protect you.  
“Brace for impact!” Batman yelled. Turns out you didn’t have too. You could only guess who it was as the flying vehicle was carefully lowered onto the ground. Aquaman readied his trident the second the doors opened, Wonder Woman pulled her sword free. Superman cleared the way as a barrage of Lizards charged. “We don’t have much time!” Cyborg yelled. You took a deep breath and glanced up at the Lighthouse. You clenched your fists and threw out a spiderweb of electricity that fried maybe thirty lizards. “ Cyborg, what if I try to absorb the charge from the Jupiter Core? Will that keep it from extending past this area?” You asked and Flash looked thoroughly opposed to it. “No, y/n you can’t. We barely survived getting struck! That much absorption could-will kill you!” You kicked one lizard in the face and punched another one with a charged fist, and then you did something you didn’t even know you were capable of. The lighthouse unleashed another artificial lightning bolt and it hurtled straight towards you! You stood your ground and extended both of your hands, catching the lightning if that was possible! It was frozen in time, superheating the air. Your feet dragged on the ground as the sheer force of it pushed you back, blood streaming from your nose now, your stitches tearing in your leg. You pushed the bolt in the direction of experiments that were swarming Batman. Your whole body screamed in protest as you dispersed the electricity at the last second so Batman was not harmed. “If you take in 85%, it’ll weaken it enough!” The three of you looked back at the sound of a thunderous roar. “What in fresh hell is that?” You screamed as a huge mutated creature smacked Aquaman across the rocks and into the water! Where had Kleberg even hid that thing? “Think you can throw a lightning bolt at that thing?” Flash shouted, eyes wide with fear. It looked to be a cross between a crocodile and a gorilla pumped full of steroids! It had to be at least 20 or 30 feet tall! You tore your eyes away from the monstrosity and started towards the lighthouse. A red blur kicked a lizard out of your way. “Y/n, there’s got to be another way!” You cupped his face, stroked your thumb across his cheek. “ Barry, whatever happens, you were the one.” The world needs you. I need you.  
“I need to get to the Core!” You shouted and as Superman wrapped an arm around your waist and lifted you up, you saw Flash look up at you, his expression full of confusion and hurt. You squeezed your eyes shut and thought of Diana telling you to act before it was too late. Superman was going to put you on the catwalk of the lighthouse so you could get in and deal with the Jupiter Core It seemed Kleberg had anticipated this and somehow gotten Kryptonite from Luther. “Get to the core!” Superman shouted as the gallery deck lined with glowing green chips weakened him. He put you on the deck and prepared to take off when a green cloud erupted over you and him. “No!” You screamed. As if to taunt you, the timer on the Jupiter Core had an automated voice counting down. “25...24...23...22…” Superman struggled to gain his bearings and as he tried to stand, broke the railing. With the green cloud obscuring your vision, you didn’t see Kleberg at first. He charged you and Superman with a knife carved from Kryptonite. You grabbed him fully intending to explode his ass to high heaven. You grabbed onto a rubber suit. “This is what it feels like to control the elements!” He said smiling so wildly he might’ve been the joker. “If it blows it’ll kill you too!” You shouted. He only shook his head. “I’m willing to make the sacrifice.” He went at you and you scrambled back, pain exploding in your shoulder as he plunged the knife in.He tried to pull it free but you wouldn’t let it happen! You screamed as you nearly fell off the catwalk, just barely managing to latch onto the ruined railing. Superman grasped your hand but the knife in your shoulder was hurting him! You screamed as you reached up and painstakingly pulled it free and let it plummet into the sea below. You were hauled up and Superman grabbed ahold of Kleberg. “Stop the Core!” You ignored your battered body protesting and entered the Beacon Room. “10...9...8...7” You placed your hands flat over the Jupiter Core, glanced back at Superman. Still weak and still ever the one to save lives, he clung to Kleberg and dropped over the railing. You let out a weak laugh...of course, Supes would make sure the bad guy would be detained. “5..4..3..2…”   
As Superman landed with Kleberg and Diana plunged her sword into the Beast’s head, the lighthouse gave in. When Flash ran he saw everything, could stare down every minute detail, dodge bullets, push people out of the way, into the way. He was the fastest man alive but he felt like he was the slowest as he ran to you. Cracks formed under his feet milliseconds afterward. He bounced off pieces of debris and finally reached you. Your eyes were closed, fire creeping towards you! He knew for a fact you had done what you’d set out to do as the explosion was at the size Cyborg projected it would be after you took in the power surge. One arm was around your waist, while the other kept your head cradled. Barry considered the league his family. He’d lost his mom, his dad was locked away. As he carefully set you down, it didn’t feel real. “No...no..” He whimpered pressing his forehead against yours and Diana and Bruce felt something constrict in them at the sight of Barry holding you. Not again...why again.

You were sure you were dead. There was no way in hell that you survived that thing but yet you could hear Barry’s voice. “No...no…” Your fingers twitched. Was he crying over you? You’d come so far only to die. You felt him holding you. No, you were not dead. You had not come this far to die. Slowly, you regained control of your limbs, your voice. You coughed and hard. “Her heartbeat is getting more steady now,” You heard Clark say. You pried open your eyes and looked into Barry’s. “ I thought you were dead. I’m not leaving that easily. I just got with you.” You said and it was so stupid but you laughed and threw your arms around Barry’s neck, tears springing up in your eyes and he held you. “C’mon love birds, Sparky needs medical attention,’ Arthur barked and Diana gave him a look that said, “Let them be”. You both got to your feet.  
With the Jupiter Core destroyed and Kleberg right where he was supposed to be you finally felt at ease. In a tank top and pajama shorts, you collapsed in bed beside Barry. One perk of his super fast powers was that he was very warm. He looked at you with a dopey grin. “ Sometimes, I still can’t believe we’re together,” And you smirked, leaned down and kissed the life out of him. “Hey Barry,” You said once you stopped. “Since we are dating...does this mean I can grab your ass?” You were taking things a bit slower but still…”Y/n!”

Epilogue  
“Where are Barry and Y/n?” Diana asked. “I don’t even want to know,” Arthur grumbled, causing Victor to laugh. “They’re in the rec room,” Vic said. “Thank you,” Ever since the Hall had been completed, they all spent more time in there and they also trained you there as well. It was hard but totally worth it. As Diana neared the rec room, she heard the tv playing but not your voices. She stopped in her tracks as she saw the two of you on the couch passed out. You were on your back with Barry semi on top of you, his head resting on your stomach his arms wrapped around you. One of your hands was still tangled in his hair. She had wanted to make sure both of you were alright after the latest mission. She smiled and carefully closed the door to the rec room.


End file.
